Master
by Tyrano
Summary: In 22 ABY, Ben Solo fully became Kylo Ren, after waking up to his Uncle's lit lightsaber above his head.


**WARNING: Despite my usual disdain for any sort of "trigger warnings", I feel this one-shot warrants it. While not overly violent or political, this story does contain elements relevant to the current US Political climate, specifically in regards to school shootings. If you are not comfortable with the idea of reading about Kylo massacring the Jedi Temple, turn away now.**

* * *

Ben Solo woke to the distinctive _snap-hiss_ of a lightsaber igniting. Rolling over to his back, the seventeen year old jedi was horrified to see his Uncle Luke standing above him, the green blade of his lightsaber illuminating the small hut that Kylo called his own.

Ben could see the anger in Luke's eyes, and it scared him. In that moment he knew he should have left the temple months ago, before his uncle could see the Darkness raging in him. He knew he only had seconds to act before he died. He flicked his eyes over to his lightsaber (which lay forgotten on his desk), something that was noticed by his uncle.

Breathing heavily, he reached out with the Force, pulling his lightsaber into his outstretched left hand. With a flick of his thumb he activated it, the blue blade immediately clashing with his Uncle's own green saber.

His Uncle's eyes softened immediately after the blades crossed. All the hate drained from his wrinkling face. In that brief moment, the elder Jedi looked almost surprised at what was going on. Ben ignored it, and thrust out his right hand, pulling the roof of the hut down on top of him, to his Uncle's horrified shout of "BEN! NO!"

The roof collapsed, he didn't know if his uncle survived or not, but either way it didn't matter. Ben had made his choice, and he had chosen Snoke, it was time to go through with it. Crawling out of the ruins of his hut, he pressed the fourth button down on his comlink, soon enough Kato, Annix, Mara, and Zorr-Al would join him. In less than a second he was no longer Ben Solo, he was Kylo Ren ('_Bullshit. You have been, and always will be Ben Solo.'_).

He was unsurprised to see several of his fellow students making their way towards him. While not loud enough to alert those who slept in the temple, the destruction of his hut was not quiet.

Sure enough, his Knights of Ren were approaching him, it was hard to see Allex and Jorg amongst them. Besides the Knights of Ren, Allex and Jorg rounded out the other Jedi considered "Apprentices", being one step above Padawans. Allex had always been the friendliest to him, more so than even his own Knights, she was kind hearted, and treated everyone fairly. She was amazing with the younger Jedi, patient and knowledgeable about Force techniques, she showed incredible prowess with her smoothness wielding the mystical energy. It would be painful to see her die, but he would do what he had too.

With a nod to Kato, the destruction of the Jedi began. The Knight lit his newly acquired red lightsaber (having retrieved it from wherever he hid it), and as Jorg turned around in surprise, he slashed downward, bisecting the younger boy from right shoulder to his opposite hip. Allex screamed, and backed up quickly bumping into Kylo, who rapped his left arm around her chest. Dropping his blue saber, he called his new one into his now free hand, igniting it through Allex's back. Her scream ended with a sharp intake of breath, as she saw three feet of unstable plasma burst through her gut.

"I'm sorry," Kylo whispered into her ear, as he let her fall to the ground. She was crying silently now.

"Be…. Ben. Why?" She managed to get out. Kylo looked at his fallen friend and nearly broke down, it took all his mental fortitude to keep himself standing.

He didn't respond to her directly, instead speaking to his Knights ('_That changes nothing Ben! You loved her! You were ready to leave the Jedi so that you could have a life with her! And you just put a saber through her heart! Monster'_).

"Like the **Master** said, 'Let the past die. Kill it, if you have to.'" With those words, he brought his lightsaber down, piercing Allex's heart, and killing her.

Narra took one look at the dead Jedi, and promptly threw up, she was the youngest of them, and had been nearly as close to Allex as Kylo himself. As Narra stood herself up, and wiped her mouth on her sleeve, Kylo turned towards the Jedi Temple, refusing to let his Knights see the tear falling down his cheeks. He said no more as he began marching towards the monumental building. Behind him, he heard the ignition of three more lightsabers, as his Knights marched on behind him.

They knew what they had to do ('_Bullshit Ben. You don't have to do any of this. This was your CHOICE.'_).

* * *

Kylo was angry, almost entirely at himself. As the Knights of Ren spread out amongst the Jedi Temple, he was overtaken by his self-hatred. Regardless of the shit that he had experienced in his short life, it did not justify this. He had killed nine people in the past five minutes.

His latest victim was a fucking youngling. Little Kord Marek, all of ten years old, almost, but not quite old enough to be raised to the level of padawan. The child ('_He was a fucking CHILD Ben. Did he deserve to die?'_) lay on the stone floor of what Luke had called the Council Chambers (the council consisted of Luke, given that Kylo was the next oldest member of the Order), a large slash still burning in his chest. Kylo stared at him, his wide eyes opened forever. Kylo hated himself. He was angry, so, so, so angry that Luke had made him do this ('_BULLSHIT BEN! THIS WAS YOUR CHOICE!'_).

He could feel the dark energy flowing through him, the hatred, the anger, the self-loathing swirling around hi psyche, manifesting itself into raw dark Force power. Discounting his whirlwind of emotions, he had never felt so good. Full submersion into the Dark Side felt incredible, he felt stronger, faster, sharper than ever. He had no doubt that if his Uncle was alive, he could take him in a fight at this moment.

He was so caught up in the near orgasmic bliss of Dark Power that he nearly missed the warning provided by the Force. Reacting on instinct, he lit his saber as a yellow blade crashed down on it. Allex's younger sister was small, but she packed a lot of punch. Locking blades with the younger Force-user, he kicked her hard in the stomach, sending her careening backwards, towards the chamber doors.

In the darkness of the of the chamber, the five lightsabers stood out sharply. Besides the yellow blade of Erika Lipsfaly, he spotted Luka Gord, Neilal Harkan, Lorra New, and Jarek Olivv. Despite their defiant stance, he could see the terror behind their eyes, the subtle quivering of Luka, the tears coming down Lorra's cheeks. Erika was fairly close in age to him, and would've made the jump to Apprentice as soon as Luka had Knighted him, but the others were different stories. Lorra was barely thirteen, and had taken a year longer than most to become a Padawan.

They would be easy pickings ('_Listen to yourself Ben. You just called children easy pickings!'_). Erika was the first to attack, screaming in rage as she sprinted at him, swiping her saber hard and fast at his head, before redirecting towards his legs as he went to block. Caught off guard by the ferocity of the small girl, he jumped over her, throwing his blade towards the other four padawans, scattering them.

Calling his blade back to him, he redirected a sharp thrust from Erika, spinning in place to parry a slash from Neilal. Twisting under the Togruta's arm, he turned off his blade, causing her to fall forward from the sudden lack of a counterforce. Her loss of balance opened him up to swipe his relit blade across her back. He had no time to watch her fall as the Force warned him to two blades coming at him from either side.

Reaching his hand out, the still burning blue blade of Neilal jumped into his hand, catching Erika's, with his red saber he batted Luka's blade out of his hands. The trembling boy had no time to react as he sent a force push dead at him, throwing the boy through the window to his death. Two down.

Erika was struggling in their blade lock, using all of her miniscule weight to try and push him back. For the second time in their brief duel, he kicked under her blade hard, sending her backwards. Turning in time to slash both blades at Jarek, as he attempted to catch Kylo off guard. Unfortunately for Jarek, he had never been particularly good with a lightsaber, and the saber he had taken from Neilal caught him in the neck. Three down.

Kylo took a deep breath, Erika had turned off her blade, using the darkness of the room to hide from him. Lorra was gone too, but he quickly spotted her in the corner, sobbing, her lightsaber lying forgotten on the floor by the door.

He was so focused looking for Erika's force presence, that he never noticed the chair she threw at his back. The fifteen year old had surprising strength for her age, and the collision knocked the wind out of him. Struggling to get up, and unable to find his saber, he did the only thing he could think of as Erika leaped at him.

He thrust out his left hand and funneled all of his dark emotions through it, blasting Erika with Lightning. Sending her backwards into the wall. In the back of his mind, he recognized Lorra screaming in the corner, but he didn't process it. He had just used Force Lightning. He had just successfully cast Force Lightning with no prior idea how to. The power was intoxicating, as Erika slowly stood up, he channeled all of his rage, all his anger, all his sadness, and electrocuted the Jedi girl. She screamed, and her body arced and contorted in unnatural ways as she experienced the full potential of Force Lightning, the red bolts lighting up the high-ceilinged room.

Her screams stopped after mere seconds, Erika no longer having the strength to fight. As he ceased his attack, he was certain she was dead. Struggling to catch his breath, he finally recalled his lightsaber, finding Neilal struggling to pull herself upright against the chair Erika had hit him with. The Togruta girl's spine had been severed, based on the fact that her legs were motionless as she attempted to get onto the chair. His red blade was the only lightsource in the room as he walked towards her. She barely had time to look at his as he brought his blade down, separating her head from her shoulders. Four down.

Lorra was still in the corner of the room. She turned to him as he made his way towards her, staring at his raised lightsaber with wide, brown eyes.

"Please. Please don't." Were her only words.

He stared back at her, her eyes were puffy, the fourteen year old having spent much of the last ten minutes sobbing. He had never looked at her for an extended period of time, and he was saddened to discover that she looked a lot like Allex. He steeled himself as he raised his blade slightly higher, before bringing it down.

As he looked back at her when his swing ended, she was still staring at him with wide eyes, and he realized that he had hit his blades switch mid-swing. Saving Lorra from death. He stared at her, and took heavy, deep breaths, before he stood tall, and clipped his blade to his belt, doing the same with the blades he had stolen from Erika and Neilal.

He said nothing as he walked out of the Chamber, leaving Lorra alone in the dark, surrounded by dead Jedi.

* * *

The temple was in flames. No more than half a standard hour had gone by, and yet they were all that remained. Fifty-one Jedi of various ages lie throughout the temple, all dead. Allex and Jorg remained near the huts, and Kylo had no idea if his Uncle lived or not, but he had no desire to check.

The screams had all faded, and the silence was nearly as horrible. The halls that had once been so full of life were burning away around him, the bodies of the Jedi with them. His Knights had already left to gather the temple shuttle, they had a long journey to the **Master's** base. Hell, it wasn't even a base, he had told the Knights of Ren to meet him on a small moon not far from the Starship Graveyards of Jakku.

It was Mara Ren that came to collect him. The younger girl leaned against him slightly, completely drained, both physically and emotionally.

"We did what we had to do, right?"

Kylo sighed, and in that moment he felt more like Ben Solo than the **Master** of the Knights of Ren.

"I don't know Nat," If Mara was startled by the use of her birth name, she didn't show it, "I really don't know. But Luke gave us no other choice. I don't know when or how he figured us out, but he made the mistake of attacking me first."

They stood there in the burning ruins of the temple for nearly two minutes before the other Knights returned with the shuttle.

Kylo was grateful for the escape, and as soon as he had plotted the course to Jakku, he initiated the autopilot, and collapsed into the pilot's chair, drifting into an uneasy sleep. He had killed nearly twenty people today, among them the girl he was certain he was in love with. He wanted to break down and sob his heart out, but he couldn't, he had made his decision, and he chose Snoke.

* * *

Less than an hour ago, nearly sixty Jedi had existed in the Galaxy, and now that number was zero. All that remained were the Knights of Ren. Supreme Leader Ozymandias Snoke let out a full bellied laugh, and prepared for the arrival of his new pupils. Teenagers were notoriously difficult to teach and deal with, especially mentally damaged ones (which he expected, given that the Knights of Ren had just murdered the people that essentially made up their family), but Snoke was up to the task.

He was one step closer to conquering the Galaxy.

* * *

**AN: How was it? I've been in a very Star Wars mood lately (especially with the teaser trailer for episode 9, it was FUCKING AMAZING btw), which has slowed down my work on SitD. Beyond that, I'm nearing the end of my school year, so that has been hell. But pretty soon I should have much more time to write, and I hope to get the next chapter of SitD up in the next month or so. I added about a thousand words to the middle of this one-shot, and I'll probably write another one-shot to go with it pretty soon, as I have more ideas floating around my head that don't really fit into a full length fic. However, this, and any more one-shots that follow it will be preludes to a story I am currently working on. Funnily enough, that story is about a fifth as long as this right now, so y'all probably won't see it for awhile.**


End file.
